Thursday, March 08, 2007

A Great Variety of Films and Books...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Jancee Dunn's first novel, IN BETWEEN DAYS, the humorous and nostalgic story of a 30-something New Yorker who is forced to relive her 1980s past when she moves back into her childhood home after getting dumped by her husband and leaving her job, to Jill Schwartzman for Villard, in a two-book deal, by David McCormick at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world English).

Former private school headmaster Selden Edwards's debut FIN DE SIECLE, about a 1970s rock star dislocated in time back to turn-of-the-century Vienna, where he encounters some of notable people of the time and meets his ancestors (including the young father he never knew), to Ben Sevier at Dutton, in a pre-empt, for publication in spring 2008, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group (world).

GENERAL/OTHER:

NYT writer Hilary de Vries's THE COOKING LESSONS, about four sisters negotiating their relationships after the death of their mother, to Trena Keating at Dutton, by Molly Friedrich at the Friedrich Agency (NA).Calling Out author Rae Meadows's NO ONE EVER TELLS, about a magazine editor who becomes increasingly obsessed with the murder case of a local co-ed and the leading suspect, a college student from her Ohio hometown, to Kate Nitze at MacAdam/Cage, in a nice deal, by Elisabeth Weed at Trident Media Group (world).

Human rights activist Rupert Isaacson's THE HORSE BOY, an account of how he gained entree into his autistic five-year old son's world through a horse and chronicling the subsequent journey they will be taking together through Mongolia on horseback -- a father-son story, a story of East meets West, and a story about the fascinating and mysterious connection between humans and animals, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, at auction (NA).UK rights to Eleo Gordon at Viking UK, at auction, both by Elizabeth Sheinkman at Curtis Brown UK (UK/Commonwealth, excl. Australia).French rights to Albin Michel in France; auctions are under way in Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Japan. The original US and UK submissions were made about two weeks ago. The author intends to use his proceeds to build a dedicated autism school in Austin, TX.Elizabeth@curtisbrown.co.ukFilm: nick@curtisbrown.co.ukTranslation: betsy@curtisbrown.co.uk

Elizabeth Little's BITING THE WAX TADPOLE: Adventures in Word Travel, using examples from languages dead, difficult, and just plain made-up, a multilingual grammar fiend shares all of the humorous "dirty bits" - irregular verbs, unusual spellings, and evolutionary quirks - that give languages, and cultures, their character, to Becky Kraemer at Melville House, in a nice deal (World). bk@mhpbooks.com

CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT:

Lauren McLaughlin's comic debut CYCLER, pitched as Orlando meets Freaky Friday, about a likeable and seemingly normal teen girl with a secret condition: she changes into a 17 year old boy for four days out of every month, and now her boy self - tired of being suppressed - is plotting his own agenda with explosive results, to Mallory Loehr at Random House Children's, at auction, for two books, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).
COOKING:

CIAO ITALIA PRONTO! author and host of the public television show Ciao Italia Mary Ann Esposito's CIAO ITALIA BIG FIVE: Five Ingredient Recipes from an Italian Kitchen, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).
HEALTH:

Science and medicine journalist Maryn McKenna's SUPERBUG: The Death and Life of Drug-Resistant Staph and the Danger of a World without Antibiotics, again to Liz Stein at Free Press, for publication in summer 2009, by Susan Raihofer at David Black Literary Agency (world).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Former Fort Worth Star-Telegram senior writer and books editor Jeff Guinn's LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG: THE TRUE STORY OF BONNIE AND CLYDE, drawing on interviews with survivors and witnesses for a narrative of the brief but violent careers of America's best-known Depression-era bank robbers, to Roger Labrie at Simon & Schuster, by Jim Donovan at Jim Donovan Literary.

ON THE SIDE, THE MARTHA'S VINEYARD TABLE author Jessica Harris's HIGH ON THE HOG: African Americans and Food, a culinary history that divulges never-before-told tales of our country's rich black culinary past, to Kathy Belden at Bloomsbury, by Susan Ginsburg at Writers House (NA).

Journalist and originator of the website RegretTheError.com Craig Silverman's REGRET THE ERROR: How Media Mistakes Pollute and Endanger the Press, an Eats, Shoots and Leaves for the media-centric, with a foreword by blogger Jeff Jarvis, listing hundreds of humorous and shocking media errors, analyzing the history of media mistakes, and examining why today's media climate makes it imperative that the press meet higher standards of accuracy, to Philip Turner at Union Square Press, for publication in fall 2007, by Don Sedgwick of the Transatlantic Literary Agency (world English, excl. Canada).pturner@sterlingpub.comwordbyword@eastlink.ca

MEMOIR:

NPR commentator Lauretta Hannon's CRACKER QUEEN: Stories of a Jagged, Joyful Life, about growing up in the South on the wrong side of the tracks, a look at how bad choices and hard living have brought Hannon unexpected gifts, resulting in a perspective she terms "the Cracker Queen way of life," to Erin Moore of Gotham, at auction, by Joanne Wyckoff of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency.jwyckoff@zshliterary.com

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox's memoir REVOLUTION OF HOPE, written with friend and public relations consultant Rob Allyn, covering his relationships with many world leaders, including Castro and Bush, to Viking, for publication in October 2007, by Jan Miller at Dupree Miller & Associates (who tells the AP it was "a VERY nice deal").

FILM:

Film rights to Valerie Plame's unpublished FAIR GAME (if, and once approved by the CIA) and life rights for Plame and husband Joe Wilson, to Warner Bros., with Akiva Goldsman at Weed Road and Jerry Zucker and Janet Zucker at Zucker Productions producing.

Author BN Discover winner COOKOFF: Recipe Fever in America Amy Sutherland's two nonfiction books KICKED, BITTEN AND SCRATCHED: Life and Lessons at the World's Premiere School For Exotic Animal Trainers and WHAT SHAMU TAUGHT ME ABOUT A HAPPY MARRIAGE (AND LIFE), optioned to First Look Studios with Kristin Hahn, Dana Adam Shapiro and David Rubin producing and Todd Louiso and Jay Kenoff set to adapt, by Mary Alice Kier and Anna Cottle of Cine/Lit Representation, on behalf of the Jane Chelius Literary Agency.cinelit@msn.com
UK:

Selina O'Grady's A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN THE TIME OF JESUS (Book 1) and THE ORIGINS OF ENGLAND (Book 2), a history of the world in the first thirty-six years of the first millennium, a time of competing beliefs and competing empires and a seminal period in the history of the West, to Toby Lundy at Atlantic Books, by Ivan Mulcahy (World). louisebrice@groveatlantic.co.uk

Nicholas Clee's ECLIPSE, about the greatest and most celebrated racehorse of his, and arguably any, period in history, who changed the lives of all those associated with him, to Selina Walker at Transworld, in a very nice deal, by Ros Edwards of Edwards Fuglewicz Literary Agency (World English).ros@efla.co.uk

Wrap...

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